Returning, What's Best Way To Gear Up Quickly?

I've just returned after years away. I actually have a main alt that was decently geared and had done a lot of stuff. However, in 2012, I created a new alt for the specific purpose of beating the Shadow Lord (I was playing through every FF title in order). I got my DRG to Lv 99 and did just that, then moved on.


Well, now my intent is to play through all the story missions (Zilart, CoP, ToAU, Wings, SoA, etc) with this alt, since my main did them already and I don't recall them. I'm wondering if anyone could recommend a decent starting Haste/TP/WS set I could get off the AH (or however is best these days) to gear myself up and work towards that goal. I feel completely lost right now and am rocking some out-of-date gear, I'm sure. I had taken a look at the AH (bought me a Terebrokath polearm) but, considering the mix/maxing and matching that takes place to ensure the proper Haste and Accuracy caps and all that (assuming that stuff all still exists), I don't know what Armor pieces I should pick up for each set.

Can anyone help out?

if you are just looking to go through the storylines, you can make do mostly with 5/5 AF/Relic 109/119 and the polearm from Bee delve. as it is, Sparks gear will get you through everything prior to Adoulin.

You have to get every REM, all jobs to 99, all Aeonic weapons and beat every single NM once to beat this game!!

Just find someone to run Alluvion Skirmish with you. You can even just play Tower Defense in Yorcia Skirmish for someone and collect gear for basically free. that stuff will get you through story content even without proper augments.

Best way to gear up quickly is to make a Mithra, join an LS, catfish the leader, and get everything you want then jump servers so someone will come here, call you out, that thread will be nuked because it's a player warning but a few of us will have a hearty chuckle up until I or one of my fellow mods notice it.

I'm just kidding, I have no idea how to gear quickly, good luck though!

I'm not sure what this means. I've heard of Sparks gear, at least, but Delve was something that, even on my main, I wasn't able to do (I came back on my main from years away to find my former LS had split and I was homeless).



I have no idea what most of what you just said is, apart from the "find someone" part, and the problem there is I know nobody :(

To start, definitely get some trusts and go solo some Sacred Crest and merit battlefields in order to get the reforged armor.

Look out for EXP RoE events and spam that in order to get sparks, and get yourself some weapons and gear.

(As an aside, you should work on the Rhapsodies expansion to get massive exp and cp buffs.)

EDIT: If you want to beat Adoulin, you'll need some friends. The last battles you pretty much can't do alone (without great gear).

Just come back after 4 years away , missed the game and tried playing ffxiv which I didn't like at all especially as I was playing in PS3 which simply fails . Anyway came back on Bismarck in jeuno to find 350 players online and most of them bazaar folk . Everywhere I went was deserted and not even any town chat whatsoever . Given I spent 7 years loving this game I was really sad to see it like this and even now I think it's better than most mmo's out there . The social side was huge and it had a big impact on my life playing for ten hours every day almost . I'm going to try switching server to asura see if that's any better and im hoping it is because the game really does need community always did . When I think back to the fun I had it really is painful to see it like this almost to the point of shedding a tear . I so want to play again but seeing towns deserted is really off putting and I think they really need to merge servers to at least get as many people together as possible before this kills it completely . I wish a lot of the old players were having similar thoughts of returning but looks unlikely or maybe they have and gone again just as quick seeing the state of the game now . Ill stick around for a bit and try to find some people and see if it rekindles my passion . Just thought I'd share my thoughts on a game I spent years living and loving and make many friends on . Come on SE I know they just released new content but server numbers is a must

After doing a bunch of Records of Eminence quests (mostly just flagging stuff I'd already done), I was able to get the full i117 5-piece DRG armor set. It looks like it takes care of Haste for sure, though I dunno about Accuracy, TP, or WS. But I figure that gear should take me through Zilart, CoP, ToAU, and Wings with Trusts (I got a bunch from the Tutorial REM quests, plus 4 more in Bastok).

As for the weapon, I had bought the Terebrokath, which looks better than the Eminent Lance available via Sparks.

I still have all the other slots/accessories (Ears/Rings/Back/Waist/Neck) to likely update -- none of the Sparks versions of these looked that great -- but I at least feel a bit better and more secure about taking on some of that older content now.

Still open to suggestions. I know some mentioned doing things with friends (I haz none though) and one person mentioned battlefields (can you elaborate?) but if there's any other information that will help, I gladly welcome it.

Verda thanks for that i desperate to play again and enjoy it like I used to its simply too big a part of my life to forget and let go . I'll let you all know how the move goes etc and what happens next . I do miss running around bastok etc killing worms low level and running to jeuno first time using sneak etc lol great memories

i also just returned. as a drg aswell. it hurt my heart a bit, to see that low player base. i have no clue of where to go, and how to gear up so i thank you for the info.

Good to see some returning and I hope more do and stick it out until they merge servers to increase the numbers again . Not sure how they cs repopulate the old spots but so long as there is community this game will live on . See you on asura hopegully . Might email SE at some point and highlight some things which they will probably ignore but will try anyway . I'll get the add on pack and give that a go to . Determined to play this epic game after spending so much effort on it and time it's simply sad to let it go . Hopefully SE will listen if enough people request things to improve the subscription base

how is the asura server. im sitting on ragnarok as for now. last evening gmt time zone had barely 700 ppl. about 1k in jp prime time

I'm on Bismarck atm had 400 on there last night and deserted tbh . I'll stay on a few days to see if anyone appears I know then probsbly switch . Asura one of the busiest especially for English speaking areas .

yea i hear asura alot alswell. atm i do the same as you, stick and see, for now only seen 2 i know. i actually was on bismarck too at some point way back

For me they should include the subscription along with that for ffxiv maybe or just add a few quid on do people can still play both at little expense . I see a lot not that impressed with ffxiv as I wasn't but unwilling to pay for both or £9 for ffxi with it being so quiet . Hopefully will see numbers pick up with the new content and free return going on atm . Will have s look around tonight as I say . Got 17 jobs at 99 but want to have a laugh along with doing stuff . To think there were people who got married in real life meeting on this game shows the impact it had . I made a lot of friends from it and some we met up a lot with .

wasnt there a discount if u had both subscribed hmm. well ff14 on excalibur server was nice.

i had a run thru memory lane last night. and im impressed by meself. got thrugh yuthunga jungle in first try. and havnt played in over 2 years XD

Lol did similar running around but a bit different at 99 :) at least I'll have 2 jobs to go killing worms in bastok until level 10 or so . Boring as hell but enjoyed running from quadavs etc lol. Also used to go helping parties in the dunes as whm just to help the new guys out and for fun . Really do miss those days

i have brd and geo. and a low lvl cor and pld left.

oh how i miss old 6 man pts

Agree perhaps have to get a few of us together and do it the old fashioned way might start a trend lol. I remember abyssea when it was crowded and only seems a year ago not 3-4 . Worm parties Exp chains and leeches lol .im up for a 6 man party level 10 in the dunes , whm PL though lol those goblins used to suck :)

yea XD i checked abyssea areas yesterday all empty

do you have a Rajas Ring? if so, yes you are still using it so many years later. if you are capped for Haste, get a Windbuffet Belt off AH (+1 is better of course, but I imagine you have little to no gil). if you are starting with pretty much zero progress, knock out your Zilart/CoP stuff first. I don't think anything is level capped these days and the gear you already have will make it a joke. once you progress far enough, you can reforge your AF/Relic armors, and eventually Empyrean if you can get Vagary clears, but you are gonna need to at least get through a fair bit of Adoulin for that.

info here: https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Category:Reforged_Armor

if you make friends with a linkshell that can help you out with Alluvian Skirmish, you will want the Acro set at a minimum. info regarding augmentation here: https://www.bg-wiki.com/bg/Category:Alluvion_Skirmish_Armor

we are likely to be swimming in stones thanks to limited time events upping skirmish stuff as well as a fresh round of Red Mog Pells. the augmentation process is random, but it is pretty easy to make passable gear out of it.

if you are still wanting to keep gearing, there are the three Escha zones, with Zitah and Reisenjima providing the best gearing options that are "easy/cheap". the last few pages of the Dragoon guide have gear sets that you can eventually work towards, but it is not a very active community because the job is not BLU/THF/DNC who are your primary melee DD these days.

Thanks! This topic got a bit off track with a back and forth discussion, but I'm wondering - is spellcast still a thing? :D

Spellcast is officially dead, and no longer supported. Look into its vastly superior successor, Gearswap.

Ok so I'm well on the way with sparks , luckily having so many jobs levelled made it easy . Still learning how to use the keyboard again etc lol . Going to gear up as best I can with sparks etc then will go to adoulin and see what happens there . On the bright side beginning to see more people around the last day or so and enjoying the game . I hope more follow and return , certainly seems a lot are thinking about returning as ffxiv isn't quite cutting it for many